What tier will Leeds be in? Local lockdown Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 explained as Boris Johnson makes speech

Boris Johnson made a speech on Monday outlining a new three-tier local lockdown system.

Liverpool will be under Tier 3 restrictions which will mean pubs, bars, gyms, casinos and other adult gaming centres being shut.

Leeds and West Yorkshire will fall into High Alert Level Tier 2, as Mr Johnson said that areas currently in local lockdown will automatically move into Tier 2.

Because Leeds was already in local lockdown, it follows that Leeds will move into High Alert Tier 2.

Mr Johnson said the rules will be put in force from Wednesday, October 14.

Liverpool will be under Tier 3 restrictions which will mean pubs, bars, gyms, casinos and other adult gaming centres being shut.

What is Tier 3? Very High Alert Level:

Tier 3 restrictions mean that pubs, bars, gyms, casinos and adult gaming centres must be immediately shut.

The latest figures show Leeds has an infection rate of around 380, whereas Liverpool is at higher than 500.

Currently, the suggestion is that only Liverpool will be in Tier 3 lockdown, but this could change at any time.

Local lockdown restrictions must be agreed between government and local council leaders before being announced and applied.

Documents leaked to the media earlier this month suggested tier three would include no social contact outside your own household in any setting and restrictions on overnight stays away from home.

No organised non-professional sports or other communal hobby groups or activities would be permitted, the document also said.

What is Tier 2 lockdown? This is what Leeds will be in which is now called High Risk or High Alert Level - Tier 2:

The High Alert Tier 2 rules in Leeds are:

- No household mixing indoors - that means homes AND pubs and restaurants. Any indoor setting.

- Mixing in gardens IS allowed as long as the rule of six is followed. This actually means that restrictions are slightly less strict than before for gardens.

- Curfew in bars and pubs remains at 10pm

- Pubs, bars and restaurants to stay open

- Social distancing must be obeyed at all times

- The Rule of Six remains so that groups of people must not exceed six people in pubs, bars, restaurants and gardens

What are the details of the rules and what are the exceptions in Leeds?

Households will not be able to mix indoors including in homes, leisure or hospitality venues.

Households will be able to mix outside, including in parks, and private gardens provided they do not gather in groups of more than six.

People can still come inside your home for specific purposes. These include where everyone in the gathering lives together or is in the same support bubble; to attend a birth at the mother’s request; to visit a person who is dying; to fulfil a legal obligation; for work purposes, or for the provision of voluntary or charitable services; for the purposes of education or training; for the purposes of childcare; to provide emergency assistance; to enable one or more persons in the gathering to avoid injury or illness or to escape a risk of harm; to facilitate a house move; to provide care or assistance to a vulnerable person.

Existing arrangements for access to, and contact between, parents and children where the children do not live in the same household as their parents, or one of their parents will remain exempt.

Friends and family can also still provide informal childcare for children under 14.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday the government has been "designing" restrictions for COVID hotspots "in conjunction with people who know those places best".

Asked on what basis areas will move between tiers that could carry a harsher lockdown, he said people would need to "wait to see what the PM says" but a range of different factors have been taken into account.

Cases per 100,000 are "significant" - but also hospitalisations and the nature of infections, he said.

"Though the number of cases is rising rapidly across the country there are still huge variations," he said. "If you go to North Norfolk the latest statistics showed that the number of cases is around 19, if you go to Manchester it's well over 500.

"So, it is right that we pursue a localised approach. That must be the way forward because none of us want to see a return to blanket national measures - that would be the alternative."

What is happening with local lockdowns on Monday?

The Prime Minister set out his three-tier strategy in a Commons statement on Monday afternoon, with areas in England labelled as medium, high or very high risk, which will inform the “appropriate interventions” needed in each area.

In Merseyside, Liverpool is subject to the most stringent Tier 3 controls and local leaders were battling for an enhanced package of financial support for businesses hit by the new measures.

Manchester meanwhile was resisting moves to require it to close pubs and bars, arguing that it should be placed in the less restrictive Tier 2 category - which has now been confirmed.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden denied that ministers had been “panicked” into imposing economically damaging new measures at a time when deaths from Covid-19 were relatively low compared to the start of the pandemic.

While he said that he hoped controls would be able to be eased, he acknowledged that they may be required to remain in place until Christmas and beyond.

“The purpose of doing this is to ensure we get the virus under control so by the time that we get through to after Christmas we are in that position where it is under control,” he told Sky News.

“Indeed I hope it will be sooner than that.”

-> Would closing pubs and restaurants help? Leeds residents have their say